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Stan Lee, the iconic creator of some of the greatest comic books in history, has passed away at the age of 95…

The world has lost an icon as Marvel founder and legendary comic book creator Stan Lee has passed away at the age of 95.

Lee was reportedly rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles on Monday morning where he later died. Lee had dealt with several health issues over the past few years including a bout of pneumonia.

Lee came to Marvel in the early 1960’s where he created dozens upon dozens of iconic characters who remain just as popular today as they’ve ever been.

Amongst the characters Lee had a hand in helping to create includes Spider-Man, Black Panther, the X-Men, the Avengers, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four.

Lee was a mainstay in popular culture even after he left his post at Marvel Comics as he was a constant presence at major comic book conventions and making appearances in numerous Marvel films over the years.

Lee lost his wife Joan in 2017 after they had been married for 69 years and the legendary comic book creator ended up embroiled in all sorts of legal issues including several lawsuits against an ex-business manager as well as a former friend who had been handling his estate.

As a comic book writer, Lee changed the industry forever not only through the characters he helped bring to create but also by intersecting real life situations into his subject matter. Lee wrote stories that involved the Vietnam War, political instability and famously engaged in a storyline in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ where Peter Parker found out his best friend was addicted to pills.

Lee’s start in the business came at a time when DC Comics was the juggernaut publication but their heroes were largely two-dimensional and largely consisted of the classic ‘good guy vs. bad guy’ scenario with very little grey area for any of the characters. Lee changed all that while working alongside creators such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko as they made superheroes with real flaws, which instantly made them more relatable to the people who were reading those stories.

Lee also played a major part in introducing some of the first African-American superheroes as part of the Marvel Universe.

“We tried to make our characters as human and empathetic as possible,” Lee told the Huffington Post in 2012. “Instead of merely emphasizing their super feats, we attempted to make their personal life and personal problems as realistic and as interesting as possible. We wanted to make them seem like real people whom the reader would like to spend time with and want to know better.”

Lee continued to appear at conventions as well as doing interviews and showing up in the latest Marvel films right up until his death this week.

Lee will always be remembered as one of the most influential figures in pop culture history.